Japanese army officers of the Kwantung Army staged an explosion on a railway near Mukden, now Shenyang, in September 1931 and used it as a pretext to occupy the whole of Manchuria in north-eastern China. Chinese forces were told not to resist, and the region fell within months. Japan set up the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932 with the last Qing emperor, Puyi, as its head. China appealed to the League of Nations, whose Lytton Commission found Japan to be the aggressor, and Japan left the League in 1933. The invasion showed the weakness of collective security in the 1930s and began a conflict that widened into full war between China and Japan in 1937.
Before and after
- 3 June 1931Birth of Raúl Castro
- 10 July 1931Birth of Alice Munro
- 11 July 1931Construction of Ernst-Happel-Stadion
- 8 August 1931Birth of Roger Penrose
- from 18 September 1931 to 27 February 1932Japanese invasion of Manchuria
- 18 September 1931Mukden incident
- 6 October 1931Birth of Riccardo Giacconi
- 7 October 1931Birth of Desmond Tutu
- 15 October 1931Birth of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
More in Wars, politics & history
- 1919Paris Peace Conference
- 3 March 1923Time
- from 1 August 1927 to 1 May 1950Chinese Civil War
- 30 September 1938Munich agreement
- from 1 September 1939 to 6 October 19391939 Invasion of Poland
- 1944Golden Globes
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.